August 6th

So today was a total do nothing day which I absolutely loved!! I know in my last post I was complaining about how I just needed a day to relax, well today was that day! we all slept in till around 9:30 and then just hung about, I took a nap for an hour right before lunch which was very nice. We didnt leave the house till about 5 and then it was just Andrea, Silvana and myself. We went to a little tourist shop and bought some cards and then went to the beach to meet up with Illaria and Virginia, then headed back to the house. All we had to eat today was pasta because we need to go shopping, but it didnt matter much to me because it was some good pasta! it was in a meat ragu sauce, for lunch it was just bow tie pasta, but for dinner we had it with tortollini which made it even more delicious. So we are apparently moving to a new house tomorrow. We are going to live at their friends house who has the pool, I'm not exactly sure but I think that that family is leaving today or tomorrow to go back to Firenze because of the fathers work so I think we will have the house to ourselves but I am not sure. So I just have to watch the kids while the parents dive back and forth bringing all our stuff over. I also forgot to mention that we did meet up with Illaria and her family on the first day at the beach (for those who dont know Illaria is the woman who set me up with this aupair job and her daughter is in moms dance classes, which on a side note Virginia is already signed up for next years dance classes).

So I've taken an intense liking to these European cars, I wonder if you can import them into the US and use them there.... I'm gonna find out. Cause they are really small and can fit anywhere but they are actually quite spacious inside, one of the family's cars looks no bigger than a prius but it has a secret back seat almost like my volvo except smaller space to sit in. It really surprised me when Claudio flipped it open, it really did not seem that it was possible for more seats to come out from the trunk. All the cars here I have never seen before, I did come across a familiar car (it was a bmw) but thats it. Also the driving here frightens me, I dont think I could ever drive here... They are safe drivers but not safe at the same time. It seems that everyone knows that everyone is a bad driver so they continue driving this way but are super aware of the other drivers and people around them. So it works, in a really weird way. I guess you wouldnt get it unless you have actually been in a car here.

So I also forgot to mention that the friends of the family's house has olive trees everywhere! plus they have a pomegranate tree too!! I was so surprised when I saw it. And I talked with the adults last night when we were at the friends house and apparently our school system is quite different from theirs. For one they seemed to love the idea that we have gym classes practically every day, here they dont and you have to pay a fee to be on a team. Also they have speciality high schools, so they have ones for sciences, art etc.

I also got my roommate assignment today! So my roommate's name is Avigayil Kelma, and if facebook is correct she is actually from Israel. My other apartment mates are: Tess Kullberg (who according to facebook is from Minneapolis), Jordan Knutsen, and Jessica Sansing. And the apartment is not on the other side of the Ponte Vecchio, it is actually two blocks away from Via de San Gallo which is the street that my school is on, and its just down the road from where I was staying with the family's nonna. I'm gonna be on the second floor of the apartment building and there is a park right outside of the building! so I cant wait!! Also the school sent out a flyer with all the optional field trips that they offer throughout the year and there is one for 3 days that goes down to Pompeii and I am considering going, the only downside is that it is an extra 300 euro to go, but I'm thinking that I might anyway cause I wanted to see Pompeii anyway and was considering going with friends, so now I can, and I'll use the money that I make from tutoring to pay for it. (if my calculations are correct I'm going to earn about 140 euro from this month, and I'm not spending anything right now. the only thing I have bought is a new pair of flipflops for 3 euro because my old ones broke)